There’s probably no more surefire musical-comedy crowd-pleaser than Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop Of Horrors, proof positive of which can be found in Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre’s pitch-perfect revival of the 1982 cult classic.

Spoofing such 1950s B-movie horror flicks as Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Creature From The Black Lagoon, and It Came From Outer Space, not to forget the 1960 black-and-white, non-musical sci-fi comedy of the same name on which it is based, Little Shop Of Horrors introduces us to orphan Seymour Krelborn (Bob Moran), longtime clerk at Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists, the crummiest and least successful flower shop in town … but perhaps not for too much longer, given how pitiful business is of late.

Fortunately for Seymour and his curvaceous coworker Audrey (Tayler Mettra), the first customer they’ve had in days is so charmed and fascinated by the “strange and interesting plant” sitting in the store window (one that Seymour just happened to find soon after a total eclipse of the sun and quickly named Audrey II) that he buys $100 worth of roses, and before long, business is booming, the shop’s cranky owner Mr. Mushnik (Marc Montminy) is thinking of adopting Seymour, the latter is finding it harder and harder to think of the lovely Audrey as a mere work colleague, and Audrey is wondering if Seymour might just be the knight in armor who can rescue her from her physically abusive dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello D.D.S. (Skylar Gaines).

There’s just one problem with Audrey II. It has a craving for blood, human blood, and the drops Seymour provides from his increasingly ravaged fingers are soon nowhere near enough to satisfy its cravings. Audrey II wants a body’s worth of blood, and it wants Seymour to supply it posthaste.

As in their later Disney collaborations The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast, composer Menken and book writer/lyricist Ashman display a knack for creating one instantly hummable, cleverly worded song after another, from the catchy doo-wop show-opener “Skid Row (Downtown)” to the heartstrings-tugging “Somewhere That’s Green” to the uber-romantic “Suddenly Seymour,” and with an all-around terrific Candlelight cast delivering the vocal goods every note of the way, Menken and Ashman’s songs are in more than capable hands indeed.

So is Little Shop Of Horrors itself under the expert direction of Upland-born, New York-residing Branch Woodman, who having recently shared the stage with Bette Midler in the Best Revival Tony winner Hello, Dolly! now returns to his Claremont-adjacent roots to helm Little Shop with assured panache.

Seymour and Audrey may be easily pigeonholed types–romantic nerd and golden-hearted bimbo–but the equally fabulous Moran and Mettra find hidden depths within them, and just wait till the latter sings of “Somewhere That’s Green” to have your heart shattered to itty-bitty pieces. (Douglas Austin is Little Shop’s expert musical director.)

Montminy’s marvelous Mr. Mushnik has great fun being outwardly warm but inwardly conniving while dancing a mean tango spiced with Fiddler On The Roof moves opposite Moran’s Seymour, just one example of Woodman’s delightful, exuberant choreography.

 A scene-stealing Gaines not only goes deliciously bonkers as “semi sadist” Orin Scrivello D.D.S. but earns versatility points as the eccentric flower shop customer who sets it all in motion and later (in a series of lickety-split costume changes) as fast-talking NBC exec Mr. Bernstein, snooty Life Magazine editor’s wife Mrs. Luce, and super agent Skip Snip.

Last but not least among Little Shop’s onstage septet, the cleverly-named and sensationally performed “Urchins” (Liz B. Williams as Chiffon, Alescia Ellis as Crystal, and Summer Greer as Ronette) execute girl-group moves to do the Chiffons, the Crystals, and the Ronettes proud while serving as the musical’s sassy high-school-drop-out Greek Chorus.

As for the show’s pair of (mostly) behind-the-scenes performers, Jabriel Shelton gives Audrey II a voice to rival R&B’s best while Jeffrey Bonser manipulates him/her/it to jaw-dropping effect.

An uncredited Scott Pask’s stunningly grungy 2003 Broadway sets (provided by The Music And Theatre Company and coordinated by Chuck Ketter) give Candelight’s Little Shop a National Tour-caliber look, particularly as lit with saturated-color pizzazz by Aspen Rogers of 4Wall Entertainment.

The same can be said for Mark Gamez’s costumes (provided by The Theatre Company), especially the Urchin’s Dreamgirls-ready red-spangled evening wear, and Michon Gruber-Gonzales’s period wigs. (The often blonde Audrey is stunningly red-headed this time round.)

Caleb Shiba is stage manager.

I’ve now seen fourteen different productions of Little Shop Of Horrors and its latest incarnation stands up to the best of them. Factor in the scrumptious cuisine that is part of an evening or afternoon at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre and you’ve got a theatrical/dining treat so tasty, even Audrey II would deem it lip-smacking delish.

Candlelight Pavilion, 455 W. Foothill Blvd., Claremont.
www.candlelightpavilion.com

–Steven Stanley
March 8, 2020
Photos: Demetrios Katsantonis

Tags: Alan Menken, Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, Howard Ashman, Los Angeles Theater Review